Stamp



Oct. 17, 1939. i w J NM JR 1 2,176,595

STAMP Filed Dec. 2, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 17, 1939. w J PANMER' JR 2,176,595

STAMP Filed Dec. 2, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 17, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STAIWP Application December 2, 1937, Serial No. 177,727

9 Claims.

This invention is an improvement in the class of marking stamps, preferably of the rubber type form, adapted to mark a suitable surface with an imprint by means of raised letters, figures, etc. extending beyond an annularly arranged supporting base or surface, of the same general type of construction as that disclosed in my prior Patents No. 1,071,527 and 1,828,230.

The invention has in view to provide a rocking or rolling stamp of such character, either for hand use or mechanical application in connection with a supporting roll or drum and a suitable inking pad or medium.

The object in view is to provide in such a stamp, a separably attached and a separably removable stamping element or die mounted upon a suitable supporting base, and having a curved contour whereby to be adaptable to the application of one or a plurality of stamping members, adjustably mounted thereon.

The present invention comprises a supporting frame or holder having an annular base arranged in the arc of a circle adapted to receive and hold with suflicient'tension to maintain it in position, an operable web-like printing or stamping member, the mounting frame or roll having devices and means for locating and holding the stamping member thereon. I

In the previous constructions above referred to, such mounting and adjustment is effected by means of screw connections having threaded engagement with cooperating elements, as bars, adapted to inter-engage with particularly formed endmost terminals, a flexible mounting base of 35. the stamping character as described and illustrated in the said prior patents.

In the present construction, either with a hand operated rocker base, or a cylindrical roller, I utilize a plurality of transverse tightening bars having inwardly recessed slots and abutments for interengagement with the outwardly turned terminals of the stamping element base or apron, greatly improving the compact construction and facilitating the mounting of the thin flexible apron directly against the face of the mounting base, and with ample clearance outwardly therefrom for the stamping characters.

Certain preferred constructions are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a face view of the outer portion of the stamp mounted on its operating base;

Fig. 2 is an end View in elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail View on the line IIIl lI of Fig. 1, showing the parts in operative position for use Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1, showing the interengaging parts disconnected;

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of one of the tightening cross bars;

Fig. 6 is a side edge view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the invention as mounted for use on a roller base;

Fig. 8 is a partial detail plan View showing one of the holding bars and its connection with the annularly adjustable securing members mounted for movement around the face of the roller or drum;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view on the line IXIX of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional detail View, on the line XX of Fig. 8, like Fig. 3, showing interengagement between such transverse tightening bar and the terminals of two stamping members mounted on the drum.

Referring tothe construction of Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive illustrating the hand stamp form, the base member comprises a light portable frame of desiredsize, preferably made of sheet metal 2 and provided at its opposite endmost portions with gripping handles 3 3. Base 2 is provided at each opposite end portion with transverse elongated slots 4 for insertion therethrough of the tightening bolts 5, for adjustment and location of the holding bars 6.

These, as shown, are provided at their inner edge portions with under-cut clearance openings 1 providing a terminal holding abutment 8 of the dovetail type, providing an inwardly sloping engaging face for the terminal of the apron 9. Such apron, as stated, is preferably of thin sheet metal, as brass, semi-rigid for normal fiat formation and sufficiently flexible to conform to the curved base.

On the outer face of the apron is mounted the base ID of the rubber stamp having the printing elements ll extending therefrom. Such extension is slightly beyond the outer face of bar 6 when in holding position to provide clearance, leaving the stamping elements extending freely beyond the annular range of the bar.

Apron 9 as shown lies directly against base 2 and is provided with an outwardly and back- Wardly 'bent terminal edge I2 adapted to firmly inter-engage with the abutment 8, so that when one or both bars 6 are adjusted in tightened position the parts will be firmly interconnected and tightly held against the base, for operation.

Bolts 5 are preferably provided with outer terminal heads [3, adapted to make initial contact at either end of the stamping frame, prior to rolling the imprinting stamp over any surface, thus insuring proper contact and avoiding smudgmg.

Thumb nuts. I4 provide for tightening engagement and connection between the bar 6 and base 2, after bolts 5 have been drawn to proper position through slots 4, which are of ample length for such purpose.

To facilitate separation of the bar 6, in making the change of stamps and in inserting or removal thereof, each bar 6 is provided with two inner leaf springs 15 secured in a receiving recess l6 by terminal rivet IT or the like. By such construction the springs may be completely seated in such recesses, flush with its under side, when the bar is tightened, and when loosened the springs IE will thrust the bar outwardly for easy disconnection, as in Fig. 4.

As thus constructed it will be understood that the bars 6 may be located within reasonable movement over the curved surface of base 2 by proper length of slots 4, soas to be adjustably connected with terminals 12 of the stamping member within considerable range of sizes thereof annularly.

Also, that when stretched over the curved base and tightened in position, the bars will not only exert pulling tension on aprons 9 but will hold same directly against base 2. The terminal edges l2 engage the longitudinal edge abutments 8, so that there is no possibility of disconnection when the bars are tightened.

It will be understood also that while the specific construction as to the inwardly turned edges I2 is highly efficient, any other form of outwardly projecting abutments or lugs at the terminal edges of aprons 9, will work equally well, when the bar 6 is thus tightly clamped against the apron 9, without possibility of disengagement.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 7 to inclusive, the invention is shown as applied to a drum or roller base 2a of continuous cylindrical form, for the mounting of a plurality of printing or stamping members thereon. In such case the face of the drum is provided with a series of annular under-cut or dovetail grooves l8, more or less closely adjacent, extending entirely around the drum and each preferably provided with a clearance opening for insertion of slidably mounted nuts l9.

Such nuts are of a cross section to conform to such dovetail-form annular grooves and to be moved annularly therethrough as desired. They are utilized in connection with similar adjusting bars 6a and screws 5a, which in such case pass bodily through the bars and into nuts I9, and are tightened by means of an ordinary screw driver or the like.

In such case the opposite edge portions of the bars are provided with similar grooves and shoulders la and 8a and are tightened in connection with the nuts 19 by screws 511. Bars 6a are also preferably provided with retracting springs l5 as previously described.

In either form the apron 9a may be inserted or' removed by slightly loosening the opposite bars 6 or 6a, for sliding engagement or disengagement, or further loosening to allow for lateral placement and clamping and tensioning.

It will be understood that when the invention is utilized in connection with a roller or drum, for continuous rotation, the blanks to be stamped may be successively fed between it and a suitable supporting table. Also, that such mounting of a plurality of aprons of the same or variable lengths provides for easy and expeditious substitution or change, while a variable gap or blank space on the drum between adjacent apron terminals allows for all tightening or loosening adjustments.

What I claim is: v

1. In a stamp as described, the combination with a curved base, of a pair of transversely arranged tightening bars movably laid thereon each having an inclined abutment edge and clearance recess, a flexible apron having projecting stamping elements and inclined hook terminals engageable with the bar abutments, means providing for adjusting a bar or bars to exert tension on the apron and for securing a bar to the base, and springs between the base and said bar.

2. The combination with a curved base having openings therein, of a flexible apron laid directly on the base having projecting stamping elements and secured by one end of the apron to the base and having at its other end an abutment, a tightening bar movably laid on the base having an abutment engageable with the apron abutment, a separating spring between the base and said bar, and means mounted in said base openings providing for adjusting the bar thereon to exert tension on the apron and for securing the bar to the base.

3. The combination with a curved base having slotted openings therein, of a flexible apron laid directly on the base having projecting stamping elements and secured by one end of the apron to the base and having at its other end an abutment, a tightening bar on the base having an outwardly pressing spring and an abutment engageable with the apron abutment, and means extending through said slotted openings for tightening and loosening the bar on the base to maintain tension on the apron or to effect release therefrom.

4. The combination with a curved base having slotted openings therein, of a flexible apron laid directly on the base having projecting stamping elements and secured by one end of the apron tothe base and having at its other end an abutment, a tightening bar on the base having an inner releasing spring and an abutment engageable with the apron abutment, means extending through said slotted openings for tightening and loosening the bar on the base and adapted by external force to exert tension on the apron, and resilient means for effecting disengagement between the bar and base.

5. In a stamp as described, the combination with a curved base having slotted openings therein, a flexible apron laid directly on the base having projecting stamping elements and secured by one end of the apron to the base and having at its other end an outwardly disposed inclined edge, a tightening bar on the base having a clearance recess and an inclined abutment engageable with the apron edge, an inner outwardly pressing spring secured to the bar, securing bolts extending through said slots engaging the bar, and nuts for tightening the bar in holding engagement with the apron and for effecting release therefrom.

6. In a stamp as described, the combination with. a curved base having spaced apart pairs of longitudinal slots, a flexible apron laid directly on the base having projecting stamping elements and provided at opposite ends with outwardly extending inclined terminal edges, holding bars therefor each having abutments engageable with said terminal edges and an inner outwardly pressing spring, and tightening and loosening bolts extending through the slots having thumb nuts for holding the bars and apron in operative position on the base.

'7. In combination with a cylindrical base having annular under cut grooves, a flexible apron laid annularly thereon having projecting stamping elements and provided at opposite ends with outwardly extending inclined terminal edges, holding bars therefor each having abutments at opposite edge portions engageable with said terminal edges and the edge of an adjacent apron, securing nuts slidably mounted in said undercut grooves, screws connecting said bars with said nuts, and resilient separating means between the base and one of said holding bars.

8. In combination with a cylindrical base having annular dovetail grooves, a flexible apron laid annularly thereon having projecting stamping elements and provided at opposite ends with outwardly extending inclined terminal edges, holding bars therefor each having abutments at opposite edge portions engageable with said terminal edges and the edge of an adjacent apron, securing nuts slidably mounted in said dovetail grooves, screws connecting said bars with said nuts, and resilient separating means between the base and one of said holding bars.

9. In a stamp as described, the combination with a curved base having annular slots therethrough, of a transversely arranged bar thereon having an abutment edge, an adjustable tightening bar spaced beyond and parallel therewith having an inclined edge shoulder forming one side of an enlarged insertion and clearance space, a flexible apron having projecting stamping elements and inwardly disposed terminals engageable with each of said bars, means extending through said slots providing for adjusting the tightening bar to exert tension on the apron and for securing said bar and the connected apron to the base, and automatically acting separating means between the tightening bar and base upon release of the securing means.

WILLIAM J. PANNIER, J R. 

